


Next Time, Remember To Wear Sunscreen

by maddiebug



Series: Hydrate Or Die-drate and other helpful reminders [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien's backpack contains multitudes, Alya Césaire Knows, Blushing, Crack, Crack Fic, Cute, F/M, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Just adrinette being dumb, Minor Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Nino Lahiffe Knows, Reveal, Silly, Sunburn, The entire class knows basically, adrien knows, all over the place, awkward sunburn, but more crack, good Alya and Marinette pep talk, ive barely touched the surface, marinette knows just later than everyone else, seriously ot might be linked to another dimension, sunburn reveal trope, sunkissed, there is something going on with that, very cracky, we love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25763359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddiebug/pseuds/maddiebug
Summary: In which Marinette has an unfortunate sunburn, Alya keeps asking questions, Adrien's backpack defies the laws of physics and identities are revealed. Among other things.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Hydrate Or Die-drate and other helpful reminders [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876243
Comments: 28
Kudos: 272





	Next Time, Remember To Wear Sunscreen

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [sun kissed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25612168) by [fictionalinfinity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalinfinity/pseuds/fictionalinfinity). 



> Go read sunkissed it is great. I just took the plot and ran with it.

Marinette noticed the slight soreness in her cheeks as soon as she woke up.

They felt stiff, and hurt to the touch. Her cheeks were warm and uncomfortable, probably from rubbing against the pillow as she slept.

She assumed it was mild soreness from forced smiling. As Ladybug, she always had a smile on her face, and it was getting tiring.

Luckily, as Marinette, she could scowl as much as she wanted. 

Since her face felt off, she opted to skip washing her face for one morning. Scrubbing with soap and lotion before adding make-up sounded irritating.

Also, she spent so much time contemplating the reason for her cheek's unusual discomfort level (without actually looking in the mirror to see if they looked as bad as they felt) that she was going to be late to school if she didn't speed up.

Her kwami noticed, and offered some vague advice and also told her to be careful. Like three times.

Also, Tikki recommended that Marinette wear more makeup, which frankly was a little offensive. Tikki probably meant no harm, but it came off as if she thought Marinette looked bad, which she did not. Marinette was tired. She knew she was cute, even without makeup.

Marinette brushed off whatever Tikki was trying to tell her. "I'm fine. I can make it on time."

She practically threw on a random dress with flats, and brushed her teeth very briefly. Marinette pulled her hair back into her signature twin tails before rushing down the stairs, grabbing herself a croissant for breakfast, and speed-walking down the street towards school.

It was only after she got there that she realized she had forgotten her homework. And her backpack. And every school supply she owned.

It turned out that in her rush to be on time, she managed to forget every textbook.

Maybe that's what Tikki had meant. Marinette wasn't careful, and as a result, she was ill-prepared for the school day. 

It was too late to turn back, so she entered the classroom as the bell was ringing.

She let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding.

On time. _Barely._

She let out a "Yeah!" and did a little fist pump, glad that she was not tardy. Any more tardiness and she would have to do detention, (which was unfair because most of her tardiness was due to being Ladybug, but she couldn't exactly say that). She was on time.

Weirdly enough, the rest of her class gasped when they saw her. Even Alya, her best friend.

Adrien made eye contact with her, and blushed, which seemed strange. It was out of character. Usually _she_ was the one blushing when they made eye contact. He had gasped along with the rest of the class, and there was almost recognition in his eyes.

His face was unusually red, for him. He did not look like Marinette when she was embarrassed, which is to say, as red as an off brand Bob the Tomato, but instead he had very pink cheeks. He looked flushed, but not horribly. He managed to still look cute. Maybe he was promoting a new brand of blush or something. 

"Look guys, I know I'm late sometimes, but its not that surprising that I'm on time, is it?" Marinette crossed her arms. "I mean, you could have a little more faith in me."

"No, its not that, its-" Adrien started to explain, slowly.

Chloe scoffed and rolled her eyes. "It's because of your face, Dupain-Cheng."

"My face?" Marinette brought her hands to her cheeks and winced. "Is my acne that bad?"

"No, not all all." Adrien smiled. "You're perfect."

That was weird. _He_ was perfect. She was dreaming.

Alya came to her rescue. "I have a compact mirror you can look at when you sit down. It might help you... explain."

"What would I possibly need to explain?"

Chloe started counting off on her fingers. "How your hair manages to be so greasy and perfectly shaped at the same time, the ridiculous bags under your eyes, the suspiciously mask-shaped sunburn on your face-"

Marinette cut her off. "There's no need to be rude."

"I'm just stating the truth."

"Chloe's right," Alya glared at the blonde, "about the shape of your sunburn, everything else she said was just uncalled for."

"I'm only speaking the truth." 

Marinette rolled her eyes. "My sunburn is weird? What, is it like super red?"

"Yeah, and it looks like it hurts." Adrien reached into his backpack, producing a small tube that looked like facewash. "Do you want some aloe?"

"What?"

"It helps with the burn." He explained. Marinette, already was aware of this, her brain just wasn't properly processing.

Marinette was stunned. Speechless. _The_ Adrien Agreste was talking to her and it was entirely too early in the morning for her mind to function. Why did he have to be so nice? "I, uhh-"

"She says yes." Alya snatched the tube from Adrien. "Do you always carry aloe around in your backpack?"

"Well, of course. I have to be prepared for anything." 

"Its not unusual, I keep band-aids in my backpack." Marinette offered. 

"Me too! Along with gauze, medical tape, some ibuprofen, lotion, benadryl, my epi-pen, scissors, thread for stitches, an emergency toothbrush and toothpaste..." Adrien produced each item he named from the depths of his bag before placing it on the ground and digging out another.

Adrien continued revealing miscellaneous items for several minutes, disrupting class.

The entire class stared as he pulled item after item, seemingly endlessly out of his backpack. (Highlights include a hot glue gun, a small lighter, full sized stapler, some emergency granola bars, and pepper spray). It resulted in a lot of confusion, many whispers, fanart, and a little bit of math.

Nino turned backwards to Alya. "No wonder his backpack is so heavy."

"I did wonder why he needed a backpack with wheels. It all makes sense now. I'd need wheels to lug all that stuff around too."

"It doesn't make sense." Max kept scribbling numbers on the sheet of paper in front of him. "Physically, that many items cannot fit inside of the backpack. The volume of the contents exceeds the maximum volume of the bag."

"I'm pretty sure his bag is bigger on the inside." Alix whispered to the boy behind her. "Its magic."

"No way." Kim, who was sitting next to Alix, shook his head. "I think he's just really good at 3d Tetris."

Nathaniel began sketching an idea for a new superhero, who's bag contained multitudes. He hadn't decided on a name, but whatever they needed would magically appear within the bag at the time it was needed. The backpack could talk, or maybe even sing. Perhaps the brave hero also had an enchanted map, that would lead exactly where they needed to go. and a companion monkey-

-he scratched the idea when he realized how similar it was to Dora. Dora the Explorer.

Rose and Juleka sat in the back, rather unperturbed by the whole event. If one knew how many different colored pencils Rose had in her backpack, Adrien's bag would seem only half-full. Juleka, of course, made up for it by having a single notebook and one pencil in her backpack.

"Adrikins, this is ridiculous. Utterly ridicu- mmmph!"

Sabrina covered Chloe's mouth with her hand. "Don't stop him. I want to see how many items there are in his bag."

Lila merely chuckled. "If you saw what was in my bag, you'd stare, I'm sure." 

"What's in your bag?"

"I uhh, well-" Lila pulled out a pair of scissors. "These."

"How fascinating." Alya turned back to the front. "Scissors. I'm sure Adrien has those too."

"But does he have-" it was too late. The brief moment of attention was already off Lila, back to the golden boy in the front.

While Kim and Alix took bets on how many more items Adrien had in his backpack, the rest of the class was just in awe.

It seemed impossible.

Mylene sighed. "I can barely fit my school supplies in my backpack, how does he fit all of that?"

"Pockets." Ivan replied.

"My backpack has pockets."

"Guys pockets are bigger."

"And backpacks, apparently."

Adrien continued to pull item after item; box of crayons -Marinette's grandpa's prescription constipation medication (it's complicated), a water bottle, a bag full of olives, and three dry erase markers- out of the bag, long after what seemed like the reasonable holding capacity for a backpack of that size.

Marinette, who's head was reeling from processing everything that Adrien had pulled out of the bag, while still standing in the front of the classroom, finally spoke. "Is that it?"

"...and some makeup." Adrien nodded. "Speaking of which, you're close to my shade Marinette, I could help you cover up the sunburn if you want."

"Thanks, but I think make-up would sting. And its not that bad-"

The whole class stared at her again.

They took their eyes off of the massive pile of school supplies in front of Adrien to stare at Marinette's face. 

"-okay maybe it is that bad?" Marinette shook her head. "I just got here, I'm pretty tired, and its not that big of a deal.... Did you say you had scissors?"

Adrien reached into the front pocket, and started pulling out more items. "Yes. I have three pairs, one for fabric, one for paper, and one for hair-"

She waved her hands, after a brief smirk in Lila's direction. "Its fine. I believe you. Besides, you should probably put that stuff back."

"Oh. Right." One item at a time, Adrien returned the contents to his backpack. It was a long, slow process, but no one could speak until it was done. They were in awe of his ability to repack the backpack. "Like I said, my father wants me to be prepared for anything."

In the front of the classroom, Mrs. Bustier sighed. "Marinette, I'm glad that you're on time, but please, be seated. I'm sure you guys can continue this fascinating conversation about the contents of Adrien's backpack later, and we will definitely have some words, for now you're interrupting class time."

"Sorry Mrs. Bustier." Marinette sheepishly went to sit in her seat.

Thanks to Alya's mirror, she finally got a chance to see what everyone else was talking about... and the evidence was pretty damning. 

She and Chat Noir had taken a nap on a rooftop during afternoon patrol, and somehow she managed to get sunburned. The redness on her face was everywhere except where her mask was. An outline of the mask sat on her face.

She could no longer act like it was no big deal. It was in fact, a very big deal. It possibly had jeopardized her identity.

"No offense, girl, but you look like Ladybug. I've got about a million theories that I know you don't want me to say... but you really look like her." Alya whispered. "That's what everyone is thinking."

"I fell asleep." Marinette muttered. "I'm super dumb."

"What was that?"

"I uhh. I fell asleep with my sunglasses on?" She ad-libbed.

"Those are weirdly shaped sunglasses... do you have them with you?"

"I left my backpack at home."

Alya winked. "That's... convenient."

Great. So Alya, definitely thought she was Ladybug and was lying to preserve her identity.

"Never mind. Just give me the aloe."

Marinette took the tube from Alya, and put some of the cooling lotion on her face. "Thank you Adrien. You were right. Its very relieving."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I was prepared."

"And, if you could help me with makeup during lunch, that would be great."

"As long as I can get a croissant from the bakery, I can make it look like there's barely a burn." He held out his hand.

She shook it. "Deal."

"Students. If you keep getting distracted, I'm going to have to move your seats."

"Sorry Mrs. Bustier." They said in unison. 

Marinette and Adrien turned back to the front of the classroom to learn about... 

Marinette couldn't read whatever was on the board. In her rush to get to school, she had forgotten to out her contacts in, and she didn't have her backup glasses with her. Her vision wasn't terrible, but it was bad enough that she couldn't read Mrs. Bustier's handwriting from the desks.

"Adrien, can I have a copy of your notes after class? I can't read the board-"

"Anything for you Buginette-"

"Thanks, you're the best." Marinette did a double take. "What did you call me?"

His face went pale, other than the fact that it was almost as red as Marinette's, "-I mean Maribug, I-"

Mrs. Bustier cleared her throat. "Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Adrien?"

"Marinette is really pretty."

The entire class giggled. Marinette and Adrien's faces got redder, if possible. 

Marinette's cheeks felt like they were burning. More so than before.

"Girl, you could've asked me for notes." Alya whispered, once everything quieted down.

"I didn't want to bother you."

"Its not a big deal. If this is about my handwriting, then I'll have you know that journalists don't need good handwriting. Everything is typed nowadays-"

"I just wanted an excuse to talk to Adrien, okay?" Marinette hissed.

"Aww, that's cute. Why didn't you just say so?"

"I did."

"Right." Alya smiled. "You have nothing to worry about. I hear he has a huge crush on Ladybug."

"Ladybug?"

"Well, you know, it's pretty obvious to everyone that-"

Marinette stared. "We are not having this conversation right now."

"Okay girl, but you Will have to give me the details later."

Marinette briefly wondered if she could borrow some school supplies from Adrien, who had an excessive amount, but decided against it. She didn't want to disrupt class anymore, and would just grab her backpack from home during lunch.

Instead, she turned to the front if the classroom and pretended to pay attention.

Internally, she was screaming. 

Marinette thought she got a moment of peace and quiet when she went to the bathroom during passing period, but she was rudely interrupted as she was washing her hands.

Alya conveniently just happened to be washing her own hands at the sink next to Marinette. "I'm not saying that you are Ladybug, but-"

"Mamma Mia. Here we go again." 

"But, hypothetically, if you were, I'd understand. I'd choose you and Nino to be superheroes, it makes sense that we were chosen. I'm honored that you trust me that much. Really-"

Marinette sighed. "I can neither confirm nor deny anything."

"That's basically a confirmation."

"Why can't you assume its a denial?"

"If it was a denial, you'd just deny."

"That's true.."

"And this conversation is all off the record. We're the only ones in this bathroom. I will not post any theories or secrets to the Ladyblog."

"Thanks Alya, I appreciate it."

"I'm just surprised I didn't get it earlier. I mean, my own best friend is Ladybug and I had no idea."

"I was worried I was being obvious."

"No. Now, it makes sense, like when you were late, and how you always disappear during Akuma attacks. I just assumed that you were scared or something."

"Or something?"

"There was a running bet going that you and Adrien used Akuma attacks as an excuse to slip away and make out."

Marinette's face got redder. "Alya!" 

"Of course that's impossible, given that you are Ladybug, but that still doesn't explain where Adrien sneaks off to."

"I'm not-"

"Hypothetically, you're Ladybug." Alya winked.

"You're so bad at this." 

"I don't know what you mean?" Alya winked with every word. It looked like her eye was twitching.

Marinette groaned. "How have you kept your identity as Rena Rouge a secret?"

"I have no idea. I just talk a lot about other things and then people forget what they were thinking. I distract and change the subject. I never talk about Rena Rouge-"

"That's a smart idea. I might have to use that."

"Well, good luck on your little lunch date."

"Its not a date."

"The two of you are eating lunch together. Sounds pretty date-y." Alya smirked. "And I have not done this much meddling for you two to not date."

"Its at my house."

"So it's a basic date. That's a good way to start, simple."

"He's just helping me with makeup."

"That's romantic."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "He's scamming me for croissants."

"He's got his priorities in order."

"We're just friends."

"Friends who love each other." Alya grabbed Marinette's hands. "He loves you, and you love him."

"Hypothetically..."

"No, really. I know you're blind, but when he looks at you, it's like he's staring at the sun."

"He squints awkwardly and never fully looks at me?" Marinette blinked. "I think you're getting me and Adrien mixed up."

"Stop being so skeptical. I mean he looks at you in awe. He always has. And this morning, it was like you two were the only ones in the classroom."

"Really?"

"Yes, you two are so sweet."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. If you have a chance to kiss him, take it. I promise you won't regret the results."

"What if he doesn't like me?"

"He does."

"And if he changes his mind?"

"Then he's a fool and I'll fight him."

Marinette chuckled. "Thanks Alya."

"Okay, but seriously I cannot get over the fact that my best friend is _hypothetically_ Ladybug. I am freaking out here."

"I will answer every question you have. Just not right now. We have to get back to class."

"Then you have to spend time with Adrien."

Marinette dried her hands on some paper towels. "Wish me luck?"

"You're Ladybug, how much more lucky can you get?"

Marinette and Alya went back to class, and Marinette considered her words.

She felt unlucky, from forgetting her bag and glasses, to the unfortunately obvious sunburn, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Alya knew the truth. It was a little bit of weight lifted off of Marinette's shoulders. And who knew, maybe the thing with Adrien would go well..

...

Adrien and Marinette were sitting on the floor in her bathroom. 

She had gone through the cabinets to scrounge up whatever makeup she owned, as Adrien pulled dozens of different foundations, concealer and eyeshadows out of his bag. (She had no idea how he fit all of his school supplies).

After producing at least ten different brushes, Adrien was ready to begin.

"You want to cover up the burn, right?"

"Yes." Marinette nodded. "I don't like the extra attention, and people keep making... assumptions."

"Like that you're Ladybug?"

"I uhh- why'd you think that?"

"Its what everyone has been thinking all morning."

"Really?"

"No, just Alya. But c'mon, I know you. Its obvious."

"I fell asleep with sunglasses."

"Right.." Adrien looked skeptical. He didn't believe her. Of course he didn't. He could see right through her lies. He knew she was Ladybug.

"So, how do we do this?" Marinette picked up a bottle of concealer.

"So, I could put the makeup on your face, or I can redo my face, and you can follow along on your face."

"I like the second one. That way, I can redo my makeup tomorrow."

"Good choice." Adrien nodded. "Let me clean my face."

First, he wiped most of the makeup off with makeup wipes. Immediately, his cheeks became redder and Marinette noticed slight bags under his eyes.

He used some face wash, and once he had patted his face dry, the difference was obvious. 

Adrien Agreste did not have perfect skin. 

In fact, it was as red as hers. His cheeks were sunburned.

Marinette touched his cheek with a finger. "That's why you had the aloe. You were sunburned too."

"Yeah, I knew it would help. Its soothing, and dries the face, which helps with makeup application."

"Sorry."

"Don't be."

"Its funny, your burn is in almost the same pattern as mine."

"Oh really?" Adrien smirked. "I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah. Right down to the bags under your eyes."

"I need more sleep."

"I know the feeling." She chuckled. "So, how'd you get yours?"

"Same as you."

"Huh?"

"You could say I fell asleep while wearing sunglasses."

"Sounds reasonable." She nodded. "Yep. That checks out." 

(Tikki was about ready to drag Plagg out from their hiding spot under the sink and just straight up reveal their identities it was getting painful to listen to. They were both so oblivious).

"I'm ready to start when you are."

"Yep, I'm ready, go ahead, I'll follow along."

He pulled out some green makeup stuff. "Green blocks out the red. When you have really red cheeks, or spots, you can put some green to balance it out."

When he paused, Marinette put the green stuff on her cheeks. She though she looked like a sickly child, but Adrien knew what he was doing. She had to trust the process.

"And add extra concealer under the eyes to erase the bags."

Marinette nodded, step by step, following along. "I look ridiculous."

"That's because we need to blend it all together." Adrien rubbed a makeup brush on his face. "Blend, and add some more foundation on top if needed."

After blending the highlight and contour, Marinette was proud of how her face looked. Adrien's makeup magic had managed to make her look almost like her normal self. 

Her cheeks were still a little red, but no more than if she had been blushing.

"Thank you so much." Marinette hugged Adrien.

"It wasn't that big of a deal."

"Seriously, you saved me. You're my hero."

"I'm your hero?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you're no Chat Noir-"

"I'm _no Chat Noir_?" He echoed.

"That's what I said, keep up."

"But-"

"But nothing. Talk to me when you can destroy anything with a touch."

"Actually, I-"

"On second hand, you do kinda look like Chat Noir."

"I get that sometimes." Adrien deadpanned.

"I'm serious. Blonde hair, green eyes."

"The same could be said for you and Ladybug."

"Right-" Marinette squinted. "Can I mess with your hair?"

"Go ahead." Adrien leaned down, so Marinette could reach his hair.

As soon as she touched it, he started purring.

"Shh kitty, I'm trying to focus."

"What did you call me?"

It was certainly soft enough to be Chat Noir's hair. Marinette ruffled his hair, trying to recreate Chat's iconic wild look. After a few minutes she was satisfied.

The result was uncanny.

"Chat?"

"Finally." He sighed. "I've been dropping hints all morning."

"You're Chat Noir. Oh my God. Adrien, you're-"

"Chat Noir. I I know. I'm aware. And you're Ladybug."

"Yes. And you're Chat Noir." She repeated.

"Well, I guess you could say that-"

"No." Marinette groaned, putting her face in her hand. "I know what you're going to say and I'm too tired for a pun."

"-I guess you could say the cat's out of the bag."

She blinked.

"What? Cat's got your tongue?"

"I wish."

"What?"

"What?"

"What did you say?"

"Do you want to kiss?"

"Only since the moment I met you."

It was short and sweet, but satisfying. They both had burnt faces, so it kinda stung to press them against each other.

They decided to have a long overdue make out session once they both felt better.

The identity reveal went well, all things considered, but it seemed crazy that it was all because of some badly timed sunburns.

Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe it was the universe pushing them together.

Either way, sunburns on the face suck.

Wear sunscreen kids.

You don't want to end up like Marinette, who's biggest secret got revealed because she forgot sunscreen.

She could've gotten skin cancer and died. Or worse. Hawkmoth could've discovered her.

That's why we always wear sunscreen when we go outside, so that our enemies don't find us.

But, if Hawkmoth had found them, Adrien could've just thrown things from his backpack as a distraction, buying time until Ladybug came up with a real plan. 

Its better just to have sunscreen though.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so originally the part where Adrien pulled all the stuff out of his backpack was just his first list of like ten items and makeup.  
> When I went through to edit this, I kept adding more and more because I think its pretty funny. Its like that "pull out all of your weapons" *a lot of weapons* "I said all of them" trope which never ceases to make me giggle.
> 
> Then I added a couple of the classmate's reactions, but I kept adding more and more and it was almost half the class..before I knew it, the only people that weren't mentioned we're ivan and mylene, so of course i added then in.
> 
> It's kinda distracting, and an unnecessarily huge part of this sorry, but it's crack so I can do that.
> 
> Also, I know very little about makeup.
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it, feel free to let me know what you thought.
> 
> Also, heads up, I am moving into college soon, so I probably won't post anything new in the next week.
> 
> (Update that was a lie I'm still writing a lot in college)
> 
> .......
> 
> Hey, do you read/write/art for this fandom? Check out the [ miraculous fanworks ](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) discord server.


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